Anthem of the Seas

In the summer my family and I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise and it was literally the best time of my life! We were on board for two weeks but it didn’t even feel like 2 minutes. We stopped off at 8 different ports and sailed all around the Mediterranean sea.

We drove 7 hours down to Southampton and embarked on the most amazing ship I’ve ever seen. It was huge and beautiful, I don’t think I even saw the whole ship in the two weeks we were on board!

We were sailing for the first few days until we reached Gibraltar. Sailing into Gibraltar was one of the most magical experiences I’ve ever had. Approximately 100+ striped dolphins were swimming along side the ship I can’t even believe I managed to witness such a spectacle. I captured so many incredible photos on my camera and was ecstatic for the whole day. That day we were going on a shore excursion where we went with a company called Dolphin Adventure to watch dolphins! We went on a small boat and sailed out to sea to find some dolphins. Dolphin Adventure is a great company to go with if you’re ever in the Gibraltar area. They are incredibly considerate and take the welfare of the animals seriously on each trip. They let the dolphins come to them rather than sailing through their pod which can be stressful and cause injury. Please always consider the welfare of animals if you’re going on a trip like this and if the company seems dodgy do not support them! Dolphin Adventure work with marine biologists and conservationists to protect the marine life in the area and gave the most unforgettable boat trip ever! At times killer whales come into the area and as it happens they saw some the day after I was there! I was gutted because its my dream to see orcas in the wild, I will have to go back there one day!

Our next stop was at Cartagena in Spain, we went on a trip to learn about the civil war that happened in the 1930’s. I do like learning about history but the weather was unbearable and I just couldn’t wait to get back to the ships air conditioning! I didn’t see much of Cartagena because it was just too hot to walk around, but of what I did see it is a beautiful place with gorgeous buildings.

After another day of cruising we arrived in the port of Chivitavecchia in Italy. There is not much to do in the port of Chivitavecchia as it is very industrial so we went on a trip to Rome. An hour and a half of driving through the beautiful Italian countryside made me want to never leave! We arrived in Rome and it was only about 9am, it was already boiling! I knew it was going to be a struggle as the tour involved a lot of walking around the city but it was well worth it! In the 40 degree heat we walked around Rome and saw a lot of its most famous landmarks. It was incredible and I’d love to go back when it is not the hight of summer to be able to see more.

Back on board we sailed through the night to the port of La Spezia and off we went again for another 9 hour day trip. This time we went to Florence and the weather was cloudy! An absolute dream for walking around another busy city. I think Florence was a close second to my favourite place we visited, its gorgeous. During the day it rained, I’ve never welcomed rain more than that day! We were able to shop comfortably and just take it easy after the tour to explore on our own with the cooler weather.

Our next stop was in Provence in France which was my favourite place we visited. We went to some absolutely gorgeous villages and I even met an actual French Frenchie!

Next we stopped off at Lisbon in Portugal. I’ve never really fancied visiting Portugal, I’m not sure why but I am so glad I got the chance to, it is so picturesque! We went on an open top bus tour which took hours and the heat was going up and getting a bit unbearable but we got to see so much of the city and it was beautiful.

Our last port was at Vigo in Spain, this port was so small and didn’t have much around at all. There was a tiny shopping centre we had a little look around but then got straight back on the ship so I don’t have any photos from there.

That was my cruise, probably the most amazing holiday I’ve ever been on! I absolutely love sailing and everything to do with the ocean. I’d love to live on a boat and just sail around the Mediterranean all of the time, that would be an absolute dream! I really hope you have enjoyed this post, I have loved looking back at my photos!